African Artists Dominating The Art Market

EDITORIAL

African Artists At Frieze Los Angeles 2026

From February 26 to March 1, 2026, the seventh edition of Frieze Los Angeles returned to Santa Monica Airport. Launched in 2019, Frieze LA is a leading international art fair focused on contemporary art and celebrating the exceptionally dynamic culture of Los Angeles and its global contributions to the visual arts. This year, the fair featured about 100 galleries, an expansive program of ambitious installations, collaborations with nonprofit organizations, and pop-ups from some of Los Angeles’ most beloved restaurants.

These are three African artists and their notable works from the fair:

1. Njideka Akunyili Crosby at David Zwirner Gallery

Nigerian artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby’s work, Grandmother’s Parlour (2016), led the opening day sales for the David Zwirner Gallery with $2.8 million, which was the highest reported price of the fair. Crosby is known for her methodically layered compositions, which combine painted depictions of people, places, and subjects from her life with photographic transfers derived from her personal image archive, Nigerian magazines, and other mass-media sources. The resulting works are visual tapestries that vivify the personal and social dimensions of contemporary life while evocatively expressing the intricacies of African diasporic identity.

Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Grandmother’s Parlour, 2016, Acrylic, transfers, and colored pencil on paper, 168.3 x 145.1 cm. Courtesy of the artist, Victoria Miro, and David Zwirner.

2. Lynette Yiadom-Boakye at David Zwirner Gallery

British-Ghanaian artist Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s painting, Rooted By The Acres (2020), was sold for $1.5 million on view with David Zwirner Gallery. Yiadom-Boakye is known for her evocative figurative paintings, which portray fictional Black subjects drawn from her imagination rather than real life. Her paintings centre on fictional Black figures, capturing intimate, everyday moments in a loose, gestural style. Yiadom-Boakye focuses on mood, character, and atmosphere rather than narrative, inviting viewers to bring their own interpretations.

Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Rooted By The Acres, 2020, Oil on linen, 100.1 x 120 cm. Image courtesy of Ocula.